In spite of the halting, the occasional stammer, there's so much surety in Olive's voice that Claire can't help but just stare in awe for a few seconds. She's not sure that she can see completely eye-to-eye with what Olive says, even though she knows that falling deep into everything, the friendships and relationships, is probably something that she can't avoid. As nice as it is in theory to keep a distance from people, to make sure that the pang of separation doesn't cut too deep, Claire can't help but find it nearly impossible to actually hold off. Not when superficiality doesn't seem to be nearly as much of an issue anymore, when there's no pressure on her end to be a cheerleader and climb up in some arbitrary social hierarchy.

"You know, every single part of me wants to believe that, it really does," she says with a deep breath, sighing through her teeth, brow furrowed from the effort. "Which doesn't mean that I'm going to discourage you from just going on ahead with life and enjoying it as, like, something different? Than what we had in our worlds, but. I don't know, maybe I'm just too worried, because I lost a lot back home, and when I left, I was just desperately clinging to what I still had. So I'm always so afraid, especially since here, losing people is like the status quo."

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head, a few strands of hair falling loose. "Not that it really makes a huge difference, since I still like getting to know everyone here anyway, and, and obviously I've made friends. Friends who I care just as much about as the people back home."